Buggy Birthday Party

Have a Creepy, Crawly Brithday

Craft and Activity Ideas

This
is a great party theme for both boys and girls. Not only are
there some great games and activities but you will also have
an opportunity to teach children a little bit about bugs and
send them home with educational tools that will spark their
interest in bugs. Children of all ages will enjoy these
activities. If you have very young children, four and under,
you may want to use just butterflies, bees, or ladybugs for
your theme and leave out the scarier bugs.

Bug Games

Crazy
Bug Game and Craft

This
is a craft and activity. Have a contest to see who can
make the craziest bug hat. Provide the children with pipe cleaners,
pompom balls, construction paper, glue, stapler, feathers, beads,
markers, and anything else you can think of. Have the
children make bug hats and make up bug name for themselves.
Give them all enough time to finish. When everyone is
finish, have a bug fashion show. Introduce each bug by
name and have them walk in front of the other children. You
can have the children vote on the best bug or you can decide.

Go
on a Bug Hunt

Before
the party buy a bag of small bugs and hide them in the grass
and trees on in your house. (Save a few in case some children
don't find any.) Give each child a bug bag and a short stick.
Tell the children that on the word "go" they must try and find
as many bugs as they can and get them into their bags without
touching them with their hands. The children get to keep the
bugs they find. If you are using just one bug for your theme
hide only that particular bug.

Play
a "Duck, Duck, Goose" Game

Instead
of saying, "Duck, duck, goose", have the children say, "Buzz,
buzz, sting".

Cocoon

Divide
the children up into teams of two. Give each team a roll
of toilet paper. Have them decide who is going to be the
caterpillar and who is going to be the wrapper. On the word
go see who can wrap up the caterpillar first using all the toilet
paper.

Spider
Relay Race

Divide the children up into teams. Show the children how
to get in the spider position. (Sit on the ground with your
hands on the ground next to your hips and lift up your bottom
so that you can walk on your hands and feet.) The children can
walk forward or backward or both. Play the game as you
would any relay race.

Play
a "Hot Potato" Game

Instead
of using a potato use a big black hairy Tarantula and play scary
music (get it from the library)

Bug
in Your Shirt

Divide
the children into two teams. Give each team a ball of
yarn with a bug tied to the end. Have the first player on each
team put the bug up or down their shirt and pull the string
through. The first player than hands the bugs to the second
player in line and he does the same thing. They keep passing
until the get to the end of the line. You can finish the games
here or have them reverse the process and take the bug back
out of their shirts. The first team to get the bug all the way
back to the first player wins.

Spider
Relay Race

Divide the children up into teams. Show the children how
to get in the spider position. (Sit on the ground with your
hands on the ground next to your hips and lift up your bottom
so that you can walk on your hands and feet.) The children can
walk forward or backward or both. Play the game as you
would any relay race.

Pin the Spider on the Web or
Pin the Ladybug on the Leaf, or Pin the Bee on the Hive or Flower

Play just like "Pin the Tail on the Donkey".

Print out the Spider Web Patterns onto white paper and tape them together and then tape them on your wall.

Print out the spider patterns and cut the spiders apart. Spiders are number 1 - 18.

Place a piece of tape on each spider as you give them to the children so they can take turns taping the spider to the web blindfolded.

Caterpillar Race

You will need some old sleeping bags. Divide the children
up into teams. Have the children race to the end of the room
and back while they are inside a sleeping bag. Tell them they
can not touch the floor with their hands or feet, only with
the sleeping bag.

Bumblebee Bash

With the weather getting warmer, it's time to turn the kids loose outside! This game will give groups, small to large, a way to run off some of that winter energy, and have a fun time 'bashing the bee'. This is also a fun backyard game as part of a birthday party.

What you'll need: 5-9 badminton birdies (shuttlecocks), one pair of women's stockings, or panty hose per every two players, one wire clothes hanger per player, and duct or electrical tape

How to make rackets:

1. Instruct children to pull their hanger into an oblong shape, then stretch stocking over it to form a springy net. (Stockings/panty hose should be cut at about the knee, with the upper portion discarded.)

2. Using duct or electrical tape, secure stocking in place on clothes hanger handle.

Preparing the birdie: If you wish to make the birdie look more like a bee, paint it yellow. Paint the top black and paint black strips horizontally around the 'body'.

How to play:

1. Divide group into two teams.

2. The idea is to keep the bumblebee in the air by swatting it upward with the 'nets'.

3. When the bee hits the ground, it goes to the team who hit it last.

4. The team with the fewest bees at the end of the game is the winner.

Nets and bees can be prepared ahead of time, or may be a crafty beginning to the game. Nets may be decorated with paint or stickers, if desired.

This game was contributed by Chris Molnar, editor of Themeaparty.com. Click Here for more fun games, food recipes and ideas for birthday parties. Chris has two daughters, and helped coordinate the Bumblebee Bash as part of an outdoor Ladybug Theme Party, which all the kids loved!

Bug Invitations

Ladybug on a Flower
Invitations

These cute cards fold up to make an envelope. Unfold them to find
the birthday message. Directions and a pattern to make these
invitations can be found on The Resource Room. Instead of using
a ladybug, you could use any insect you want.